A judge ruled Monday that former NBA forward Jayson Williams may remain free on bail as he awaits a retrial on manslaughter charges in the shooting death of his limousine driver in 2002. While he was acquitted in 2004 of aggravated manslaughter and the jury deadlocked on the reckless manslaughter charge, he was convicted of trying to cover up the shooting of his hired driver, Costas “Gus” Christofi, at his mansion in Alexandria Township, N.J. Read the rest.

Former NBA Star Deemed
Former NBA star Jayson Williams, convicted five years ago of trying to cover up the shooting death of his limo driver, was in a suicidal drunken rage at a New York City hotel early Monday when police Tasered him and took him into custody. When police arrived at the Battery Park City in lower Manhattan at around 4 a.m., the former New Jersey Nets and Philadelphia 76ers star was in his junky hotel suite with empty bottles of prescription drugs strewn about, authorities said. After Tasering the 6-foot-10 Williams, the elite Emergency Services Unit Police, which is specially trained to deal with suicidal persons, handcuffed him and took him to a psychiatric hospital for evaluation, according to police. Williams, who retired from the NBA in 2000, was convicted in 2004 of trying to cover up the shooting death of Costas “Gus” Christofi, his hired driver, at his mansion in Alexandria Township, N.J. He was acquitted of aggravated manslaughter, but the jury hung on the more serious reckless manslaughter count. A retrial is pending, and Williams has been free on bail since the 2002 shooting. Adding to his distress, his wife filed divorce papers this year claiming he was abusive, adulterous and had a drug problem. “Jayson is doing fine. He said he was fine,” said the baller’s manager, Akhtar Farzaie. “All of us are here to be by his side as friends.”